Quotes by "Ravi Zacharias"

I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him.

Our intellect is not intended to be an end in itself, but only a means to the very mind of God.

His life spells living. Your life or my life, apart from Him, spells death.

Every worldview has to bring together reason and faith.

We are living in a time when sensitivities are at the surface, often vented with cutting words. Philosophically, you can believe anything so as you do not claim it a better way. Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it. If a spiritual idea is eastern, it is granted critical immunity; if western, it is thoroughly criticized. Thus, a journalist can walk into a church and mock its carryings on, but he or she dare not do the same if the ceremony is from eastern fold. Such is the mood at the end of the twentieth century. A mood can be a dangerous state of mind, because it can crush reason under the weight of feeling. But that is precisely what I believe postmodernism best represents - a mood.

Love is a commitment that will be tested in the most vulnerable areas of spirituality, a commitment that will force you to make some very difficult choices. It is a commitment that demands that you deal with your lust, your greed, your pride, your power, your desire to control, your temper, your patience, and every area of temptation that the Bible clearly talks about. It demands the quality of commitment that Jesus demonstrates in His relationship to us.

Unless I understand the Cross, I cannot understand why my commitment to what is right must be precedence over what I prefer.

Love is as much a question of the will as it is of the emotion. And if you will to love somebody, you can. - Ravi Zacharias' brother

Doing and saying the right thing are not sufficient. Doing the right thing IN THE RIGHT WAY and with the person's comfort in mind is critical.

To sustain the belief that there is no God, atheism has to demonstrate infinite knowledge, which is tantamount to saying, “I have infinite knowledge that there is no being in existence with infinite knowledge

[The Jews did not kill Me.] First, no one could have taken My life if I had not willingly laid it down. Also, this is a fraudulent charge that is repeatedly reinvented. They alone did not kill Me--Romans, Greeks, people from everywhere in the world were gathered in Jerusalem on that day and participated in the events that took place. All of humanity must bear the blame for what happened.

[Hitler wasn't] the first one to claim that God was on [his] side. But claiming it and keeping with His character are two different things. Jesus walked with the weak of this world--the sick, the lame, the blind. [Hitler] called them weaklings, the refuse of society, and said they had to be done away with. [God] talked of humility; [Hitler] talked of pride. [God] talked of submission; [Hitler] talked of conquering. [God] talked of love; [Hitler] talked of hate. [God] even allowed those who opposed Him to speak; [Hitler] silenced even those who just wanted to ask questions. [God] allowed those who despised Him the freedom to make their choice. For [Hitler], the only freedom possible was to implement [his] plan for world domination.

When you find your definitions in God, you find the very purpose for which you were created. Put your hand into God's hand, know His absolutes, demonstrate His love, present His truth, and the message of redemption and transformation will take hold.

Bahaism gives you a pluralistic view, and a lot of aspects of Hinduism give you a moral framework with no accountability other than the karmic system. There's no linear movement or point of accountability toward God.

My premise is that the popular aphorism that 'all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different' simply is not true. It is more correct to say that all religions are, at best, superficially similar but fundamentally different.

I have always marveled that so many religions exact such revenge against dissenters. It only weakens the appeal of their faith and contradicts any claims they might have made that 'all religions are basically the same.'

The assurance of Heaven is never given to the person. And that's why at the core of the Christian faith is the grace of God. If there's one word I would grab from all of that, it's forgiveness - that you can be forgiven. I can be forgiven, and it is of the grace of God. But once you understand that, I think the ramifications are worldwide.

An expenditure of words without income of ideas will lead to intellectual bankruptcy.

Sometimes the very presence of God is barred by our presuppositions and our intense and constant desire for triumph.

Wonder blasts the soul - that is, the spiritual - and the skeleton, the body - the material. Wonder interprets life through the eyes of eternity while enjoying the moment, but never lets the moment's revision exhaust the eternal.